3 Projects for Black Paper Sketchbooks

Hey friends, family, and attractive lurkers!

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with this black paper sketchbook. Its smooth and thick paper will accept acrylic, gouache, and white india ink without dissolving into fever screams.

Working on black paper requires weird brain muscles. Instead of looking into the shadows, you have to look into the light. (This is a beautiful metaphor and factually accurate.)

Here are some quick examples & ideas for you if you want to try it:

Project 1: put down a shape and paint around it.

Lift the shape. Fill in with a contrasting color or shade. Or leave it dark and mysterious (like the Tooth Bear-y’s fur).

How many different options can you get out of one shape?

How weird does the shape have to be for it to only ever be fill-able as itself?

How complicated can you make your shape using just one piece of paper?

Project 2: draw a collection. Gradually walk away from reality.

The keys above started out based on real keys, but I became gradually fixated on making more and more complicated bits (the end parts).

I shudder to think what Lovecraftian horrors lie behind some of those locks.

The birds I practiced on the left gave me inspiration for the fantasy-birds on the right.

I wish I had used the same colors and techniques on both sides. It would be interesting to let the viewer decide when I had lost touch with reality.

Project 3: Revisit Your Vacations.

My phone does a thing that’s like “in March 2018, you want to Las Vegas. Wanna see those photos?”

Why not turn that idle scrolling into active drawing?

When my phone said “Remember Chicago in 2021?” I said “Not entirely,” and clicked on it. Turns out I took a lot of photos on that trip, including lots of specimens and art and things I found inspiring.

I was sitting on a trove of cool shit, and forgotten all about it, like the world’s most inept Smaug.

Your camera roll is full of stuff you thought was interesting but never looked back at.

Remember making time capsules in middle school?

Your camera roll is a time capsule you’re constantly making. Take a look at your previous self’s inspiration. Maybe it’ll appeal to current you.